Caramel Cupcakes with Salted Carmel Frosting

The cupcake tasting went wonderfully!  No cupcakes were eliminated from the running.  I'll be making three additional types of cupcakes for tasting next week.  This may be an interesting run-off next week since I'd like to not make all six for one event!

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick of unsalted butter, soft
1 cup + 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with papers.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt together.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter, vanilla, and brown sugar. Add one egg at a time, beating after each one. Then in batches add the flour mixture and buttermilk, mixing well after each addition.

Fill the cupcake pans about halfway with the batter. Bake for about 12 minutes.

Frosting:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoon water
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick salted butter, at room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Continue to cook until the sugar turns a light brown. Pour into a small bowl and add the heavy whipping cream and vanilla. Immediately mix well until combined. The sugar is likely to harden quickly. Set aside to sit to allow the cream to be flavored by the caramel.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, cream the butters and salt using an electric mixer. Add the confectioners’ sugar. Pour in the cream and mix well. Add more sugar as needed to get desired consistency.

After frosting the cupcakes, I found that the sweetness was...quite profound (I can only handle so much sugar), so I lightly (very very lightly) sprinkled a small amount of salt on top.  This helped to put emphasis on the salty/sweet aspect.